Gerald Blake (director)
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Gerald Blake (director)
Gerald Blake (3 December 1928 – 5 April 1991) was a British television director who worked in drama from the 1960s to the 1980s. His numerous credits include ''The Gentle Touch'', ''The Omega Factor'' (the episode "After-Image"), ''Blake's 7'' (the episodes "The Harvest of Kairos" (1980) and "Death-Watch" (1980) from the third series), '' Survivors'' (three episodes from the first series), ''The Onedin Line'', ''Out of the Unknown'', ''Doctor Who'' (the stories ''The Abominable Snowmen'' (1967) and ''The Invasion of Time'' (1978)), ''Dr. Finlay's Casebook'', ''Compact'', ''Z-Cars'', ''Mr. Palfrey of Westminster'', and ''Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...''. References * External links * 1928 births 1991 deaths British television direct ...
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Television Director
A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the producer's vision is delivered. Their duties may include originating program ideas, finding contributors, writing scripts, planning 'shoots', ensuring safety, leading the crew on location, directing contributors and presenters, and working with an editor to assemble the final product. The work of a television director can vary widely depending on the nature of the program, the practices of the production company, whether the program content is factual or drama, and whether it is Live television, live or recorded. Types of television director Factual television director Factual or documentary TV directors may take any number of roles in the television production process, or combine several roles in one. Entertainment television director I ...
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The Gentle Touch
''The Gentle Touch'' is a British police drama television series made by London Weekend Television for ITV which began on 11 April 1980 and ran until 1984. The series is notable for being the first British series to feature a female police officer as its leading character, ahead of the similarly themed BBC series ''Juliet Bravo'' by four months. Series history The series starred Jill Gascoine as Detective Inspector Maggie Forbes, who has worked her way up through the ranks of the police force and is based at the fictional Seven Dials police station in London. Maggie's husband, a police constable, is murdered during the first episode, leaving her to juggle her career with single parenthood, raising her teenage son. ''The Gentle Touch'' largely dealt with routine police procedures and offered a frank depiction of relevant social issues (including racism, sexism, homosexuality, mental health and euthanasia). It was relatively low on action and violence in comparison to previous ...
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The Omega Factor
''The Omega Factor'' (stylized as ''The Ωmega Factor'') is a British television series produced by BBC Scotland in 1979. It was created by Jack Gerson and produced by George Gallaccio, and transmitted in ten weekly episodes between 13 June and 15 August. Synopsis Journalist Tom Crane (James Hazeldine) possesses untapped psychic powers that bring him to the attention of the scientists who comprise Department 7, a secret "need to know only" government organisation which investigates paranormal phenomena and the potential of the human mind. The phenomena explored include hypnosis, brainwashing, extra-sensory perception, telekinesis, poltergeist phenomena, out-of-body experiences and spiritual possession. Crane joins Department 7 as a means of finding and getting revenge on Edward Drexel (Cyril Luckham), a powerful rogue psychic who is responsible for the death of Crane's wife in a car crash. Crane's work with the department, and his own psychic gift, lead Crane to suspect a d ...
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Blake's 7
''Blake's 7'' (sometimes styled ''Blakes7'') is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. Four 13-episode series were broadcast on BBC1 between 1978 and 1981. It was created by Terry Nation, who also wrote the first series, produced by David Maloney (series 1–3) and Vere Lorrimer (series 4), and the script editor throughout its run was Chris Boucher, who wrote nine of its episodes. The main character for the first two series was Roj Blake, played by Gareth Thomas. ''Blake's 7'', which was broadcast in 25 other countries, had a low budget but featured many tropes of space opera, such as spaceships, robots, galactic empires and aliens. Critical responses have been varied; some reviewers praised the programme for its dystopian themes, strong characterisation, ambiguous morality and pessimistic tone, as well as displaying an "enormous sense of fun", but others have criticised its production values, dialogue, and accused it of lacking originality. ...
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Survivors (1975 TV Series)
''Survivors'' is a British post-apocalyptic fiction drama television series created by Terry Nation and produced by Terence Dudley at the BBC, that broadcast from 1975 to 1977. It concerns the plight of a group of people who have survived an apocalyptic plague pandemic, which was accidentally released by a Chinese scientist and quickly spread across the world via air travel. Referred to as "The Death", the plague kills approximately 4,999 out of every 5,000 human beings on the planet within a matter of weeks of being released. Production History The programme ran for three series and 38 episodes (series 1 and 2 comprised 13 episodes each, the third series just 12; budget cuts and technical problems reduced the planned last double episode to a single, as some scenes were lost during shooting). All series were broadcast on Wednesday evenings on BBC 1, from April 1975 to June 1977. Popular writer Terry Nation (whose work included many scripts for ''Doctor Who'') created the ser ...
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The Onedin Line
''The Onedin Line'' is a BBC television drama series that ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham. The series is set in Liverpool from 1860 to 1886 and covers the rise of a fictional shipping company, the Onedin Line, named after its owner captain James Onedin. Around this, it depicts the lives of his family, most notably his brother and partner Robert, a ship chandler, and his sister Elizabeth, giving insight into the lifestyle and customs at the time, not only at sea, but also ashore (mostly lower- and upper-middle-class). The series also illustrates some of the changes in business and shipping, such as from wooden to steel ships and from sailing ships to steamships. It shows the role that ships played in such matters as international politics, uprisings and the slave trade. Overview Classic BBC drama series set in 19th century Liverpool, and narrating the changing fortunes of the ambitious Captain James Onedin and his family. A 55-minute pilot episo ...
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Out Of The Unknown
''Out of the Unknown'' is a British television science fiction anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC2 in four series between 1965 and 1971. Most episodes of the first three series were a dramatisation of a science fiction short story. Some were written directly for the series, but most were adaptations of already-published stories. The first three years were exclusively science fiction, but that genre was mostly abandoned in the final year in favour of horror/fantasy stories, with only one story based around science-fiction. Many videotapes of episodes were wiped in the early 1970s, as was standard procedure at the time. A large number of episodes are still missing, although some have resurfaced—for example, " Level Seven" from series two, originally broadcast on 27 October 1966, was returned to the BBC from the archives of a European broadcaster in January 2006. Origins Irene Shubik had been a science fiction fan since college. In 1961 suggested ...
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Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the universe in a time-travelling space ship called the TARDIS. The TARDIS exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. With various companions, the Doctor combats foes, works to save civilisations, and helps people in need. Beginning with William Hartnell, thirteen actors have headlined the series as the Doctor; in 2017, Jodie Whittaker became the first woman to officially play the role on television. The transition from one actor to another is written into the plot of the series with the concept of regeneration into a new incarnation, a plot device in which a Time Lord "transforms" into a new body when the current one is too badly harmed to heal normally. Each acto ...
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The Abominable Snowmen
''The Abominable Snowmen'' is the mostly missing second serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which originally aired in six weekly parts from 30 September to 4 November 1967. In this serial, the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton), Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines) and Victoria Waterfield (Deborah Watling) arrive in Tibet in 1935. The once gentle Yeti have turned savage and besieged a Buddhist monastery, under the orders of a higher being known as The Great Intelligence. After becoming ensnared in its plans, the crew join forces with Professor Edward Travers (Jack Watling) to stop the being and save the planet from conquest. The story is notable for the introduction of the Yeti and The Great Intelligence. Only one of the six episodes is held in the BBC archives; five remain missing. The story was released in animated form on 5 September 2022. Plot The TARDIS lands in Tibet in the Himalayas, where The Second Doctor finds a dea ...
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The Invasion Of Time
''The Invasion of Time'' is the sixth and final serial of the 15th season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 4 February to 11 March 1978. It features the final appearance of Louise Jameson as the companion Leela. In the serial, the Vardans break the defences of Gallifrey to allow the Sontarans to invade and control the power of the Time Lords. Plot To the confusion of Leela and K9, the Fourth Doctor has a covert meeting with aliens before taking his companions to the Citadel at Gallifrey. Once there, he lays claim to the vacant Presidency as his right by Time Lord law—he is the only candidate, as established in the story ''The Deadly Assassin''. While reviewing the presidential suite, he orders it lined with lead. During his induction ceremony, the Crown of Rassilon seems to reject him, and he's injured. Leela is accused of having attacked him, when in fact she tried to help him, and ...
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Compact (TV Series)
''Compact'' is a British television soap opera shown by BBC Television from January 1962 to July 1965. The series was created by Hazel Adair and Peter Ling; the partnership devised ''Crossroads'' while ''Compact'' was still running. In contrast to the kitchen sink realism of ''Coronation Street'', ''Compact'' was a distinctly middle-class serial, set in the more "sophisticated" arena of magazine publishing. An early "avarice" soap, it took viewers into the office, and aligned the professional lives of the characters with more personal storylines. The show was scheduled for broadcast on Tuesdays and Thursdays, thus avoiding a clash with ITV's ''Coronation Street'' on Mondays and Wednesdays. Outline and synopsis The idea came to Hazel Adair when she submitted a commissioned feature article for ''Woman's Own''. After the BBC decided to produce the project, she formed a working partnership with Peter Ling. When ''Compact'' began, the editor was female, Joanne Minster (Jean Harvey), s ...
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Z-Cars
''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978. The series differed sharply from earlier police procedurals. With its less-usual Northern England setting, it injected a new element of harsh realism into the image of the police, which some found unwelcome. ''Z-Cars'' ran for 801 episodes, of which fewer than half have survived. Regular stars included: Stratford Johns (Detective Inspector Barlow), Frank Windsor (Det. Sgt. Watt), James Ellis (actor), James Ellis (Bert Lynch) and Brian Blessed ("Fancy" Smith). Barlow and Watt were later spun into a separate series ''Softly, Softly (TV series), Softly, Softly''. Origin of the title The title comes from the radio call signs allocated by Lancashire Constabulary. Lancashire police divisions were ...
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